Cassius Winston is generally listed at 6-foot-1. He is not tall. His arms lack definition. He is not strong. His own teammates say he’s not that fast. And he’ll tell you himself that he’s not particularly athletic. He can barely palm a basketball and, when someone from his inner circle received a text message recently asking if Winston can dunk, the response came swiftly.

“Fuck no.”

Yet, there was Winston, with his team leading rival Michigan by five with six minutes left, driving with his left hand from 35 feet out against Zavier Simpson, the best defensive point guard in college basketball. Winston beat him by a step and kept his balance against the more physical Simpson. Winston got him going backward, then stopped, arched his back and jumped as Simpson drifted back toward the basket. Winston’s contorted floater — off his right foot, drifting to his left, lofting the ball from his right hand — dropped in, giving the Spartans their largest lead...